Birthday Week

Thursday

Jan 17, 2013 at 9:25 AM

A Family Celebration

Brenda Langerud

Birthday Week

Seventeen years ago, my Mom designated this week in January as “birthday week” in our family. Three of her grandchildren – all three grandsons – have birthdays in the space of six days. Birthdays of other family members are scattered across the calendar but those of the three grandsons are strung across the middle of one of the coldest months in ND.

Our oldest son was born on a Super Bowl Sunday in January. My Mom announced that date was terrific as even in our extended family there were only two January birthdays to celebrate. Two years later we apparently thought that day was a good idea as our youngest son was also born on a Super Bowl Sunday. Again my Mom thought a January birthday was terrific. Double birthday celebrations ensued until their teen years when separate celebrations dominated.

Ten years later the nephew arrived – another January birthday – which lead to Grandma’s declaration of the six day span from birthday one to birthday three as “birthday week”. Like other families we discuss, deliberate about and dissect holiday plans, vacation plans, school calendars and work schedules to find time to spend together. We also discuss “birthday week” and though we are seldom together as our January boys are grown and gone on to their own lives it still merits its own conversations and reminders to send cards and well wishes. The reminders come from my Mom – to the birthday boys to remember each other and to my sister and me to remember the nephews. None of us believe she thinks we would forget, it’s just that it’s birthday week!

And oh, the fourth grandchild – the one and only granddaughter–her birthday is in September – which she believes should be a national holiday!